Alpine Culture Festival

From May 1 to 3, 2026, the first Alpine Culture Fest will be held in Tirano (SO), thanks to the Lombardy Region's Cultural Olympics call for proposals. The highlands are of fundamental importance for water, food, biodiversity, and culture. It is from this same horizon that the idea for an Alpine Culture Fest was born, celebrating the rituals, crafts, music, narratives, and community practices of the Lombardy Alps. The aim is to share what cannot be seen from the ski slopes and the major events of Milan-Cortina 2026, but which constitutes the very soul of the mountains: the "know-how" passed down through the centuries, the grazing economy, the shared gestures, and the ceremonies that still hold communities together.

The event is organized by the Valle Camonica Mountain Community and the Valtellina Mountain Community of Tirano, with a program that unites the two geographically adjacent territories. It will be three days of music, meetings with artisans and farmers, reflections, and installations, with Lombardy's Alpine culture as the common thread. Environmental protection will be a central theme, with the narration of good agricultural and community practices and a deepening of the frugality and culture of recycling that have always been characteristic of mountain people. There will also be meetings on the topic of melting glaciers and climate change more generally.

For more information visit the official website https://alpineculturefest.com/

A preview of the event is scheduled in Tirano from January 23 to February 23, 2026, in the cloister of the town hall, dedicated to "Minimal Mountain Architecture" (free admission). The exhibition is designed to foster a dialogue, opening the Olympics, on "building" and the relationship between humanity and the environment. Visitors will be able to see the projects submitted for the international "Minimal Mountain Living" award. These projects involve regeneration projects on historic or recent buildings, completed over the last decade in Italian mountain areas, with minimal land and resource consumption. The exhibition is being presented by prestigious international venues such as: Fachhochschule Graubünden (Chur, Switzerland), Bled Culture Institute (Slovenia), and Architekturgalerie München (Germany).